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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

For my April BJP, I wanted to make a miniature doll of myself -- and I was scared to death. I eliminated every other option you could think of...using a pre-made miniature doll...asking a doll artist to make me one...not having a doll at all...but the mini dolls I found weren't right, to buy one was too expensive...and my piece needed to have me in it...

I'm not a doll maker. I'm not a soft-sculpturist. I've always admired the work of others but I feared that mine would turn out looking like the amateur that I am. The bottom line...I didn't want to ruin the overall effect of my journal project by having a doll that looked terrible.

So there you have it, I was facing the big monster, FEAR OF FAILURE, and I was almost bested by him...

Until I thought, "That is exactly the defeatist attitude that keeps all of us from trying new things. And I'm always telling Jack not to be afraid to do something just because he thinks he may not be good at it." So, I decided I better "walk the talk".

And...after two days of fidgeting and fixing and re-doing...I DID IT!! So I wanted to share it with all of you in case any of you have this same fear I did...

I started out with pipe cleaners and bent them to make a head, two arms and two legs. I then took a felt bead and cut it into an oval shape and speared it onto the "head" pipe cleaner. I then needlefelted natural-colored wool roving around the pipe cleaners...

One mistake I made...I thought it wouldn't matter what color the pipe cleaner was because it would be covered, right? Wrong. It would have been much easier if I had been working with a pipe cleaner color the same as my roving...One lesson learned.

I continued to stretch and wrap the roving all around the arms and legs and then, yes, I needle-felted the roving to all the little appendages while Jack had fencing practice. You should have seen the looks on the faces of the men that were there as I kept sticking a little naked doll with a needle! Priceless! Mom by day, voodoo princess by night, mon!

Last night, I added hair in two layers -- one row of threads across the back of her head and then a second group placed on top of her head along my part line and stitching into place.

Now she looks like she's been cast out of The Garden and desparately in need of clothes. Oh yeah, and her face. I was scared to death to stitch her eyes and mouth but, after fiddling with it a bit, I think it's passable. Shhh..she's supposed to be sleeping.

So here is sleeping, naked Mini Me waiting to get dressed...

So, I made her some clothes...

And now here she is, with clothes on, beat dancing in my studio! But still sleeping...shhh...

And here she is, desparately needing a hair cut and giving you a hint for tomorrow's post.

For she is playing a starring role in my April BJP, which is all finished now and I will post about that tomorrow. TTFN.

15 comments:

How lovely she looks, your mini-you! I can imagine your fear of the beast and you have concurred it. You go girl!!Have been struggling with it myself for the past ... oh I can't remember how long. Don't we all have our dragons to slay?Your blog has been very inspirational to me, and hope you will keep sharing the beautiful results of your daily struggles and successes in life.

Somehow little mini me has to be in the picture with the jeans girls. I laughed so hard when I saw the little embroidered jeans. Only yu would think of that. I can't wait for the haircut or maybe pigtails?

Good for you for conquering your fear, and for working so beautifully on such a small scale. The tiny clothes are lovely. I love the image of you needle felting the body while on-lookers stare in wonder.

Yup. You got in the "just do it" swing of things! One of my most beloved mentors once said that to me when I wanted her to teach/show me how to make a book. "Just do it," she said sweetly. "Huh?" I replied, "So HOW do I do it?" "Just do it," she said again a bit more strongly. Well, this exchange continued a bit, and finally I gave up, went home, and just did it. Now it's my mantra, and you've discovered it!!!

Love the plays jeans you made for yourself... very YOU!!! I absolutely can NOT wait to see your piece. Maybe I'll set my alarm for 6 AM (9 AM your time) and get up to check if you've posted yet. HA! That's really a feat to do ANYTHING that gets me out of the sack that early. It's nearly 1 AM now.

I AM AT A LOSS OF WORDS! Ok, so you didn't believe THAT one did you? But it did take a minute to get me started.

When I see new projects you come up with, I think of the beginning of a show Terry and I like to watch...Ray Bradberry is sitting in his library and says" People as me where do I get my ideas". Do YOU say the same thing? lol

This little girl is absolutely, indescribably delicious! So damn cute! I love the little tiny clothes she is wearing. But, is she telling the secret only your hairdresser knows for sure?

Love you Susan, You are a riot, no not laughing riot, a riot of ideas. If I were a jealous person, I would be jealous of your creativity. When I grow up, I want to be you.